Beacon Stuns Pearl River Softball in Extra Innings

Pearl River’s pursuit of a fifth consecutive Section 1 Class A championship came to an end Tuesday as the Pirates lost to Beacon, 4-3, in a 10-inning quarterfinal game at home.

Beacon will play at No. 5 Tappan Zee at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the semifinals. Tappan Zee won at Harrison, 9-1, Tuesday.

Top seed Pearl River (17-2) started as if it might get a third meeting with Tappan Zee in the semis, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning against Beacon. Sophomore Sam Alicandri singled and stole second to leadoff the first inning, and Kristyn Neroda followed by reaching on a bunt, putting runners on the corners with no outs. Neroda stole second and on the throw down from the catcher, Alicandri broke for home and scored. On the throw home, Neroda got to third base. Sophomore pitcher Mandy McCarthy drove her in with an RBI ground out. 

The Pirates had a chance to extend their lead in the bottom of the second when Shannon McKiernan walked, Katherine McLaughlin singled and Erin Woods bunted her way to first to load the bases with no outs. Alicandri then ripped a ball down the third base line, but Beacon’s third baseman caught it, tagged McKiernan, who was heading back to third after darting home, and then tagged McLaughlin, who ran to third, to complete a triple play.

Pearl River did add a run in the third. Neroda reached on an error and stole second. Two strikeouts later, Neroda was still on second, but now with two outs. She would come around to score on an infield single by Deirdre O’Malley.

Pearl River also put a runners on base in the sixth, seventh and eighth, but wasn’t able to score in any of those innings. 

Beacon also had chances to score early, but McCarthy shut the Bulldogs down. In the top of the fourth, the leadoff batter walked, got to second on a fielder’s choice and advanced to third on a wild pitch with two outs. Jenna Malouf rocketed a grounder to the right of first baseman Caroline Kardashian, who spun to right, fielded the ball cleanly off a big hop, stumbled while completing the full spin and still reached first into for the putout. 

The Bulldogs had a runner on second with one out in the fifth, but McCarthy struck out the next two batters. 

Pearl River also brought a 3-0 lead in the quarterfinals against Beacon in 2011, but that time the Pirates held on for a 3-2 victory.

This time, Beacon (18-4) managed to come all the way back with a three-run sixth inning.  Sarah Laurelli singled home the tying run.

The game remained tied at 3-3 until sophomore Kristen Yanarella singled home the go-ahead run for Beacon in the top of the 10th inning.

Kathleen Boyle gave up only one earned run in 10 innings for the victory for Beacon.

Pearl River sophomore Mandy McCarthy struck out 13 batters and gave up four runs, one earned, on four hits and four walks.

The Pirates excelled defensively most of the season, but made four errors in the defeat.

Alicandri singled twice and scored a run. McCarthy and catcher Deirdre O’Malley each drove in runs for Pearl River.

Section 1 Class A Softball
Quarterfinals
Beacon 4, Pearl River 3 (10 innings)
Beacon         000 003 000 1 – 4 4 4
Pearl River   201 000 000 0 – 3 8 4
WP: Kathleen Boyle; PR: Mandy McCarthy